Improvement in spring-hinges for gates



W. KLEIN.

SPRING HINGES FOR GATES, &c.

Patented April 25, 1876-.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

WILLIAM KLEIN, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING-HINGES FOR GATES, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 176,539, dated April25, 1876; application filed March 1, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM KLEIN, ofPlainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, haveinvented an Improvement in Spring-Hinges for Gates, Doors, 860-, ofwhich the following is a specification:

This improvement relates to a hinge that is provided with adouble-acting spring, so that the door or gate may be opened in eitherdirection, and brought to the normal position of rest, by the springsthemselves.

The spring is a double volute coil, with the ends of the wire formingthat coil standing in opposite directions, and acting against twoadjacent blocks upon the two parts of the hinge, so as to bring themtogether when the hinge is at rest, but when the hinge is moved ineither direction the block upon the moving part of the hinge carrieswith it either one end or the other of the coil, and the other endremains' against the stationary block, and the hinge thereby is placedunder ten sion, and reacts to close the door or gate when liberated. Ialso preferably construct the gate-hinges in such a manner that they canbe easily separated from the post, so that the gate can be lifted out ofits gateway in case ot'obstructions, such as snow or ice, and whenreplaced is in a condition for immediate use;

but this construction forms no part of the present invention.

In the drawing, Figure l is an elevation of part of a gate, and itspost, with the hinges in place, one of which is in section. Fig. 2 is aplan of the hinge as open, to show the spring and contiguous parts, andalso the arms of the spring-hinge adapted to a door.

The spring a is of one piece of wire, rolled up to form double volutes,with the convolutions in opposite directions, and the ends of thesprings terminating near each other, and extending out radially or inthe form of hooks 2 and 3. The center pin b of the hinge passes throughthe center of this volute, and the blocks 0 and care upon the parts 11and f of the hinge, respectively. The ends of the volute a. extendacross both blocks and at opposite sides, andthe spring is. wound up inthe act of placing the arms 2 and 3 in position, so. that the force ofthe spring is exerted to bring the blocks 0 and einto linefwith eachother. When the part f of the hinge is moved with the gate or door, towhich it is attached,

the block e carries the arm 3 of the spring with it, the arm 2 remainingagainst the block 0. This further strains the spring, and when the dooror gate is liberated the spring brings it back to a normal position. Thesame effect is produced if the hinge f is moved to-' ward the arm 2.This construction makes a very cheap, strong, reliable double-actingdoor spring and hinge.

The hinge may be made with a short barrel, g, and two arms, f d, as inFig. 2, and be let into the top and bottom edges of the door in linewith the back, so that the door can be opened either way, or only oneway, according to the casing, and the spring will close it again. Whenthe spring is used for a gate it is preferable to provide the cylinderl, surrounding the spring and forming onehalf of the hinge, and tointroduce the parts of the spring within the same, as shown, and uponthe part (1 of the spring-hinge there is a tapering dovetailed stock, m,that fits into a similarly-shaped socket-plate, a, (shown separately inFig. 3,) that is screwed upon the gate-post, so that the parts holdfirmly when together; but the hinges and stocks can be lifted out of thesocket-plates when the gate is to be removed.

I am aware that a volute-spring has been applied to a gate-hinge, withone end acting upon the center pivot, and the other end against thecase; also that a helical spring has been applied with its ends bentback against the case. In my spring the volutes being double, and formedfrom onepiece of wire, the ends stand in opposite directions, and aremade to act upon the blocks 0 and e of the respective parts d f of thehinge, in the manner before described.

I claim as my invention--' The double volute wire spring a, formed fromone piece, with the projecting ends 2 and 3 standing in oppositedirections, in combination with the blocks 0 and 6 upon the respectiveparts d and f of the hinge, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 25th day of February, 1876.

WM. KLEIN.

Witnesses:

LoUIs KLEIN, LEMUEL W. SERRELL, PETER P. Goon.

